Bacon's Rebellion

Kilgore Plays the Victimization Card

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by

James A. Bacon
in

Ever since Democrats perfected the art of fulminating with moral outrage over the expression of “insensitive” remarks by Republicans, GOP candidates have been adopting the tactic as well. The latest instance of this politics of symbolism over substance comes from Jerry Kilgore.

The issue, of course, surrounds the unmistakable allusions by the Tim Kaine camp to Jerry Kilgore’s strong Central Appalachian — read “hillbilly” — accent. This was a huge tactical error on Kaine’s part. It’s not as if the suburban voters of Northern Virginia and elsewhere needed any reminding of Kilgore’s accent. The prejudice against “ignorant hillbillies, rednecks and assorted Deliverance creatures”, especially among Northern transplants, is so strong that it needs no reinforcement. But by raising the issue even in a veiled way–charging Kaine of being scared to run radio ads using his own voice–the Kaine-ites would have been better off to have simply handed Kilgore a tire iron and said, “Beat me!”

Now Kilgore is retaliating by running newspaper ads in small-town newspapers, calling attention to the Kaine ads, and accusing Kaine of making rural accents a political issue. The Kilgore ads quote Representatives Virgil Goode (5th) and Bob Goodlatte (6th). “Tim Kaine’s effort to divide Virginians by region is nothing short of disgusting,” runs the Goodlatte quote. “When a candidate for office openly derides the way a good portion of our citizens speak, it says an awful lot about the character of the man running the ad.” Kilgore’s counter attack plays well to the rural resentment of snobby urban elites. This one issue has the potential to measurably diminish Kaine’s appeal in rural Virginia.

Shame on the Democrats for their hypocricy. Can you imagine the furor if a Republican candidate made veiled allusions to the African-American accent of, say, Lieutenant Gov. candidate Viola Baskerville?

And shame on Kilgore for playing the “victimization” card. That’s a Democratic trope, and an unbecoming one at that. It’s a shame that Republicans are mimicking the ugliest tactics of the other side.

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  1. Waldo Jaquith Avatar
    Waldo Jaquith

    Try as I might, I still haven’t found anybody making fun of Kilgore’s southern accent, Kaine supporter or otherwise.

  2. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    The Kaine camp supposedly ran radio ads accusing Kilgore of being afraid to speak in his own ads, the implication being that either his voice or his accent were a liability. … Is the Kilgore camp making a mountain out of a molehill? It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing happened. Perhaps the blogging community can reconstruct exactly what did happen, and whether Kilgore’s counter-charges have any basis to them or not.

  3. Laszlo Avatar
    Laszlo

    Virgil Goode does not seem to have a problem with his speaking manner. It’s “what” you say that matters in my book. Content over inflection.

  4. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    I met Virgil a few months ago. Greatest voice EVER. Sort of a yosemite sam mixed with an old southern gentleman.

  5. Waldo Jaquith Avatar
    Waldo Jaquith

    The Kaine camp supposedly ran radio ads accusing Kilgore of being afraid to speak in his own ads, the implication being that either his voice or his accent were a liability.

    I disagree that there’s necessarily any such implication. Why is the implication not that Jerry Kilgore ought to be willing to put his mouth where his money is? Or that he should be willing to appear before the public — such as it is in radioland — and make his charges personally?

    But for rhetorical purposes, let’s assume that the Kaine campaign is trying to do just as you say — imply that Kilgore’s speaking style is a liability. The thing here is that the man’s southern accent isn’t a liability. Don’t most of us here in Virginia have that particular hitch in our giddy-up? If anything, Kilgore’s southern accent is an asset, one that he should be willing to trumpet. In fact, he routinely makes fun of his own southern accent in speeches, recognizing that it is an asset, though perhaps one best presented self-effacingly.

    No, it’s not his southern accent that’s Jerry Kilgore’s problem — it’s his soft-spoken, lisping, feminine speaking style. Kilgore can pretend that what’s being made fun of is his southern accent, but he knows perfectly well that southern-ness ain’t got nothin’ to do with it.

  6. Shaun Kenney Avatar
    Shaun Kenney

    I’m tired of hearing about Kilgore’s speaking style. If it were a Republican going after a Democrat, that person would be pilloried in the press. Insead when Kaine goes after Kilgore’s accent, it’s suddenly fair play?

    I’m going to go out on a limb and say Kaine is attacking Kilgore’s accent – because there’s no way a Democrat would ever attack someone’s “soft-spoken, lisping, feminine speaking style,” right?

    If Kaine has a problem with the Virginia accent, I’d like to see him go on tour. I can’t wait until Tim Kaine makes the trip to Fredericksburg (“Fred-ricks-burg”) to teach us how to properly say our city’s name.

    In fact, why isn’t Tim Kaine going about on his “Virginia Phonetics Tour” to teach us backwater hicks how to speak properly? How does Tim Kaine hold his head high in places such as Byoona Vista, Staanton, Buck-cannon County, Loo-ray, Nahflk, and other localities where Virginia’s accent and culture are somehow deficient in Kaine’s eyes?

    Most Virginia politicians have gone over the local accents enough to know certain places have a proper, more native pronounciation. Folks not born and/or raised here in the Commonwealth might find this to be a hyperbolic exercise at best. For those who appreciate Virginia and it’s cultural heritage, it’s not. Whether he’s aware of it or not, Kaine is taking a not-so-subtle swipe at Virginia culture.

    Now maybe it’s all of Howard Dean’s money that’s addling his mindset, but as a Virginian, I take offense.

    Perhaps this is the opening salvo in the natives vs. come-here’s fight we’ve seen play out locally in Northern Virginia? I’m not the one to say, but I certainly don’t find the humor in Kaine’s insinuations that a Virginia accent is something to be ashamed of.

    My $0.02 for what it’s worth.

  7. laszlo Avatar
    laszlo

    Well done Waldo. You nailed the issue dead center.

  8. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    Shaun: People in nova resent being told that they’re (1) not part of the state and (2) not natives! I was born in Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy for god sake!

    Another notable thing about NOVA: it will soon contain more than 50% of the state’s population.

  9. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Uh, Jim, have you actually heard Viola Baskerville? Heaven forbid you might be doing a bit of sterotyping in your assumptions of what she sounds like in a radio interview.

  10. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    Here is the ad in question. Doesn’t even allude to accent, only that Kilgore won’t speak for himself…

    The Kilgore people are spinning this like a top!

    Transcript

    “I’m Tim Kaine and I’m running for Governor. If I have something to say I’m not afraid to say it myself. But Jerry Kilgore has been making things up about me and letting slick radio announcers do his dirty work. Virginia deserves a leader who says what he believes himself. Mark Warner and I have made tough choices to put Virginia’s financial house in order. We brought Republicans and Democrats together to balance the budget and put Virginia back on the right track. But Jerry Kilgore doesn’t like what we did; he ducked the problem, tried to kill our budget agreement and instead wanted to borrow a billion dollars to fund the government. Now he has a new idea that would raise your property taxes. Leaders lead but Jerry Kilgore ducks problems and divides people. Virginia needs a Governor who will be straight with people and who can speak for himself. I’m Tim Kaine candidate for Governor, this ad was paid for by Kaine for Governor.

  11. Jim Bacon Avatar
    Jim Bacon

    Thanks, Tom, I’ve submitted this transcript to the Kilgore campaign to confirm that it is the ad they are construing as “mocking Jerry Kilgore’s Southwest Virginia accent.” I’ll report back with any response.

  12. Shaun Kenney Avatar
    Shaun Kenney

    Paul: Believe me, I know what you’re talking about! I’m not saying there’s an essential difference between Northern Virginia and the rest of the Commonwealth. What I am suggesting is that Kaine is playing to his constituency by playing up the contrast between more liberal-leaning NOVA and Southwestern Virginia.

    Slick, but not terribly endearing.

  13. Waldo Jaquith Avatar
    Waldo Jaquith

    How does Tim Kaine hold his head high in places such as Byoona Vista, Staanton, Buck-cannon County, Loo-ray, Nahflk, and other localities where Virginia’s accent and culture are somehow deficient in Kaine’s eyes?

    If I ever heard a candidate running for office in a district that included any of those places (well, other than Norfolk) and they said it wrong, I’d really have to think long and hard about whether I could vote for ’em. If Tim Kaine stood up and said “it’s so good to be here in Bwehna Vista,” or “man, I sure love Beucanin County”? Call me shallow, but I’d be taking a hard look at Mr. Potts.

  14. Waldo Jaquith Avatar
    Waldo Jaquith

    Now maybe it’s all of Howard Dean’s money that’s addling his mindset, but as a Virginian, I take offense.

    Oh, I almost forgot — Howard Dean has never given a penny to the Kaine campaign. His predecessor, Terry McAuliffe, gave the money to the Kaine campaign. Howard Dean wasn’t even a candidate for DNC chair when the announcement of that contribution was made. Dean was opposed to the contribution.

    Just like saying that Kaine is attacking Kilgore’s southern accent, saying that Dean gave money to Kaine just doesn’t make it true, no matter how fervently you might wish it to be so.

  15. La Orilla Avatar
    La Orilla

    I believe it was that GOP operative Sir Larry Sabato himself that brought up the claim that the Kaine ad was an attack on Kilgore’s accent.

  16. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    From the RTD on 4-22-05:

    One of the state’s top political analysts, Larry J. Sabato of the University of Virginia, said the Kaine commercial is an apparent attempt to demean Kilgore, particularly to suburban voters who dominate Virginia politics.

    “This relates to the Southwest Virginia accent,” said Sabato. “It shouldn’t be a handicap, but it is. There is a prejudice about it. The implication of the accent, as it hits the ear of supposedly sophisticated suburbanites, is that it belongs to a country hick.”

    Sabato said the commercial, placed on rural and religious stations to reach some of the state’s most conservative voters, is another indication the governor’s race will be a close, hard-fought contest. Early polls show Kilgore ahead, but large numbers of voters are undecided.

    “I don’t believe it’s below the belt,” Sabato said of the Kaine advertisement. “It’s tough for April — very tough.”

  17. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    Am I missing something?

    In the above statement Sabato seems to say that the ad is aimed at city folk, yet says a bit later that the ad was run in rural areas.
    Why in the world would Kaine run an ad in an area that is designed to insult the very people he’s trying to win?

    Kilgore had an ad in our local paper today saying the Kaine commercial was run in “the city” and on the internet.

    I’ve read blogs where people have made light of Kilgore’s accent, but I have yet to see anything of that nature from Kaine.

  18. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    This whole thing is a bunch of bs from the Kilgore campaign.

    Kaine has been accusing Kilgore of avoiding debates and hiding from the public for like a month at least, and this ad in question is just a continuation of that.

    The Kilgore people are completely manufacturing the accent thing, and Sabato is just wrong. I heard Kaine’s father in law speak at a Kaine rally, and his accent is pretty thick too.

    And while people are peddling the Republican Congressmen’s bs, stop for a minute and ask yourself if anyone has ever shown any evidence that Tim Kaine is mocking anyone. All they have is conjecture that conveniently fits into their negative message about Tim Kaine.

    Support whoever you want in this election, but don’t fall for this crap from Kilgore. It’s a communications ploy on par with “John McCain has a black love child”.

  19. Brian Patton Avatar
    Brian Patton

    I have been looking, but I am yet to see something from Kaine that would make people think he is talking about Kilgore’s accent. It seems conservatives just like making illogical leaps.

    The only people that are making negative remarks about the Southwest Virginian accent are Republicans. Kaine just called Kilgore out for not speaking directly to the people.

    Its people like you all that must think bad of Southwest Virginians’ accent – otherwise, what would be wrong with Kaine even directly saying he sounds like he is from SWVA? (which he has NOT) So what you all are saying is that there is something wrong with Kilgore’s accent (hence, Southwest Virginia’s accent).

  20. Pat Avatar
    Pat

    I’ve noticed a pattern… When the far rightists get put in the position of having to back up any of their claims; they stop talking… Notice Steve Sisson a.k.a Bluedog. He just stopped barking altogether on the column titled “Mollycoddle’s Revenge.”

    Today he’s taken to kissing up to 26th District candidate for the house Matthew Lohr, who the dog readily admits patted his head, while reminding readers ad nausium that Fulk (34 times) is actually a dem.

    (see augustafreepress.com)

  21. Steven Avatar
    Steven

    “Attack-Pat”

    Cheese-Whiz! Don’t play the ‘victimization card’ because I wrote Lowell was a Democrat.

    Per Monday’s BDT column: “As far as the Blue Dog is concerned, Republican Matt Lohr and Democrat Lowell Fulk both represent the best the county has to offer. Both have served as appointed and elected officials as well as serving on local and state boards along with distinguished community service.”

    Unlike you, there are many Valley Dems in the district appreciated the column and wrote the Blue Dog yesterday to say so. The Blue Dog Tale candidate interviews begin Thursday.

    The Kaine-Kilgore southern accent controversy is just plain stupid — and I am not going to comment on it. But I will post something this week and dedicated to “Attack-Pat” since she so worried about the dawg’s whereabouts.

    ~ the blue dog

  22. Pat Avatar
    Pat

    Q: How many valley blue dogs does it take to change a lightbulb?

    A: Just one, but he’ll spend weeks writing (17,000words) about why the burned-out lightbulb is the fault of hispanics.

  23. Steven Avatar
    Steven

    “Attack-Pat”

    Your mother wears combat boots!

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